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Muslim Truck Driver Sues After Being Fired for Refusing to Transport Alcohol

By Eric Lipman

Good morning and happy Monday, LBW readers. I thought we'd jump right into the week with an interesting Constitutional discussion. The discussion centers around a complaint filed 10 days ago in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania by a man who says he was fired -- or, more accurately, forced to resign -- from his job as a truck driver for refusing to transport alcohol, in this case, Miller Lite. The plaintiff, Vasant Reddy, is a Muslim, and says that delivering cigarettes and booze violates his religious convictions. The complaint is pretty bare bones, and the Philadelphia Inquirer captures the essence of it here. As does Eugene Volokh, at the Volokh Conspiracy, where, as usual, the debate is ramping up in the comments. Volokh runs through the 2 prongs of the "religious accommodation" test under Title VII and grants Reddy the benefit of the doubt as to the fact that his refusal was based on a "sincerely held religious belief." The remaining question: whether accommodating that belief imposes an undue hardship on the employer. Reddy's complaint alleges that less than 5 percent of his employer's loads contain alcohol or tobacco, so it should be no big whoop to assign those loads...

Full post as published by Legal Blog Watch on October 25, 2010 (boomark / email).